The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1887-10-12

that OY rules or exquisite taste WOulu NIC Gne
heart out of its deformities, and religions OF
all sorts, religions by the peck, religions
the ton-all of them devices Of the devil that
would take the heart away from the only re-
| ligion that will ever effect anything for the
human race, and that is the straight up and
down religion written in the book, which be-
gins with Genesis and ends with Revelation
the religion of the skies, the old religion, the
God-given religion, the everlasting religion,
! which says: "I.ove God above all aud your
neighbor as yourself" All religions but this
one begin at the wrong end and in the wrong
place: The Bible religion demands that
! gins at the top and measures down, while
| the other religions begin at the bottom and
try to measure up. They stand at the foot
! of the wall up to their knees in the mud of
/ human theory and speculation, and have q
plummet and string tiel fast to it. And
| they throw the plummet this way and break
head there, and they throw .pi.inmst an.
other way and break a head there, and
then they throw it up, and it comes down
upon their own pate. Fools! Why will
you stand at the foot Of the wall measur-
| ing up when you ought to stand at
the top measuring down! A few days ago
I was in the corntry, thirsty after
long walk. And came in, and my
| they rolled out of the cup, blue, and gold,
| and green, anl sparkling, and beautiful and
orbicular, and in so small space never saw
more splepdor concentrated. But she blew
once toe often and all the glory vanished into
! suds. Then l turned and took glass Of
plain water and was refreshed. And so far
as soul thirst is concerned, put against all
the glowing, glittering soap bubbles OF
worldly reform and human speculation one
! draught from the fountain from under the
throne of God, clear as crystal. Glory to
God for the religion that drops from above,
not coming up from beneath! "And the Lord
said unto me, Amos, what seeSt thou! and
said, A plumb-line."
want you to notice this fact, that when
man gives up the straight up and down re.
ligion in the Bible for any new tangled relig-
ion, it is generally to suit his sins. You first
hear Of his change of religion, and then you
hear of some swindle he has practiced in Col.
orado mining stock, telling some one If he will
put in $l0, 600 he can take out SlO0,D or he
has sacrificed his chastity, or plunged into IT.
remediable worldliness. His sins are SO broad
he has to broaden his religion, and he becomes
as broad as temptation, as broad as the
souls darkness, as broad as hell. ihey
want religion that will allow them to keep
their sins, and then at death say to them:
"Well done, good and faithful servant" and
tells them: "Al is well, for there is no hell
What glorious heaven they hold before US
Come, let us 90 in and see it. There is Herod
and all the babes he massacred There is
Charles Guiteau, and Jim Fisk, and Robes-
pierre. the friend Of the French guillotine,
and all the liars, thieves, house burners, gar
rioters, pickpockets and libertines of all the
centuries They have all got crowns, an
thrones, and harps, and scepters, and when
they chant they sing: "Thanksgiving, and
honor, and glory, and power to the broad re-
lgiun that let us all into heaven without re-
pentance and faith in those disgraceful dog
mas of ecclesiastical old fogyism"
My text gives me grand opportunity of
saving a useful word to all young men who
are now forming habits for lifetime. OF
what use to a stonemason or a bricklayer is
plumb line? Why not build the wall by the
unaided eye and hand? Because they are in
sufficient because if there be a detection in
the wall it cannot further on be corrected:
Because by the law Of gravitation' wall
must be straight in order to be Symmetrical!
and safe. A young man is in danger OF
getting defect in his wall Of character that
may never be corrected. One Of the best
friends ever had died of delirium tremens
at 60 years of age though he had not since
81 years of age-before which he had been
dissipated-touched intoxicating liquor until
that particular carousal that took him off,
Not feeling we'll in street on hot summer
day he stepped into drug store, just as you
and would have done, and asked for dose
of Something to make him feel better. And
there was alcohol in the dose, and
that one drop aroused ths old appe-
tite. and he entered the first liquor store. and
STAYED there until thoroughly under the
power of rum. He entered his homes a raving
maniac, his wife and daughters fleeing from
his presence, until he was taken to the city
hospital to die The combustible material of
- L., ~ orlx
and that one spark ignited the conftagatlon.
Remember that the wall may be one hundred
feet high, and yet a detection one foot
from the foundation affects the entire struct-
ure And if you live 100 years, and do right
the last eighty years, you may, nevertheless,
do something at twenty years Of age that will
damage all your earthly existence. All you
who have built houses for yourselves or for
others, am not right in saying to these
young men, you cannot build a wall so high
as to be independent Of the character
of it's foundations. A man before thirty years
Of age may commit enough sin to last him O
lifetime. A cat that has killed one pigeon
cannot be cured. Keep it from killing tho
nrst pigeon. Now, John, or George, OF
Charles, or William, or Alexander, or An
drew, or Henry, or whatever be your Chris
tian name or surname, say here and now
''No wild oats for me, no cigars or cigarette!
stories for me. no Sunday sprees for me.
am going to start right and keep on right
| God help me, for am very weak. From th'
throne Of eternal Righteousness let down Il
me the principles by which I can he guided
in building everything from foundation te
capstone Lord God, by the wounded hand
of Christ, throw me plumb line"
Lord Nelson's general direction when going
into naval battle was, no man can do wrong
that places his ship close alongside that Of
the enemy. My friend, you will never dc
wrong if you keep your life close alongside the
| Ten Commandments. Do right, and you car
be as brave as Maria Theresa, who rode up
the Hill of Defiance and shook her sword al
the four corners of the earth.
But" say ySu 70 h1 shut Us us young fn foIss hs
time But have not had to 60 into paths OF
sin to find it. No credit to me, but because
Of an extraordinary parental example
| and influence I was kept from outward
trangressions, though my heart was bad
enough and desperately wicked. have had
| fun illimitable, though l never swore one
oath, and never gambled for so much as the
value of pin, and never saw the inside OF
haunt of sin save as when, ten years ago,
with commissioner Of police and detective
and two elders of my church, l explored these
! cities by midnight, not out Of curiosity, but
that might in pulpit discourse set before
the people the poverty and the horrors of un-
derground city life. Yet though never was
intoxicated for an instant, and never COM
mitted one act Of dissoluteness, restrained
only by the grace of God, without which re-
straint I would have gone headlong to the
bottom of infamy, 1 have had so much fun
that I don't believe there is man
on the planet in the present time
who has had more. Hear it, men and
| hove 1uomao and oyirle oil the finn il ON the